Dolphin Baby!: Read and Wonder - Softcover

Nicola Davies is a zoologist and the author of many books for young readers, including Surprising Sharks, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor winner, illustrated by James Croft; Big Blue Whale, illustrated by Nick Maland; and Extreme Animals: The Toughest Creatures on Earth, illustrated by Neal Layton. “I adore dolphins,” she says. “Just looking at them makes me happy. I've spent many days watching them — often when I should have been doing something else!” Nicola Davies lives in Wales.

Brita Granström has illustrated many children’s books, including Eyes, Nose, Fingers, and Toes: A First Book All About You and Does a Cow Say Boo?, both written by Judy Hindley. “I hadn’t seen a wild dolphin until I started Dolphin Baby!” she says. “Then, as if by magic, a pod of fifteen dolphins and their babies arrived near my home, so close to shore that I could draw them from my studio window. I immediately fell in love.” Brita Granström lives in England.

Young children will love learning how little Dolphin suckles, whistles in baby talk, catches his first fish and rubs his tummy against Mom as sweetly animated paintings highlight each step.
—The New York Times

Zoologist Davies has long experience writing about nature for young readers. Here, she describes the first six months of a bottlenose calf’s life through the story of Dolphin and Mom... Granström’s acrylic paintings are beautiful. Spreading across two pages, they emphasize the blues of the dolphin’s environment... This introduction to dolphins is sure to win readers’ hearts.
—Kirkus Reviews

Davies’s lively story of a dolphin baby and his caring mother is infused with scientific details about dolphin developmental milestones in the first six months of life... Granström’s illustrations set at various depths in the ocean feature broad brush strokes of every watery hue—light blues and greens for surface antics and inky, midnight blues for the depths that the growing dolphin eventually reaches.
—The Horn Book

A dolphin baby’s first months involve pleasant times of being fed, learning the special whistles of dolphin communication, playing with other young calves, and eventually catching his first fish. Davies shapes these experiences as a simple story, demonstrating the social nature of dolphin life.
—School Library Journal

Nicola Davies’ nonfiction narrative is enhanced with beautiful acrylic paintings. Alongside the narrative text, a smaller font presents additional facts about dolphins.
—Library Media Connection (highly recommended)

A wonderful immersion into the baby dolphin’s world.
—Booklist Online

This book could be the starting point for a lifelong love of dolphins.
—BookPage